Nielsen will launch a new measuring tool as soon as today, which is expected to track digital audiences of online TV shows.

Nielsen, the global information and measurement company, is expected to announce a pilot program today called "Nielsen Digital Program Ratings." This program will track digital viewership of programs from certain networks on their own websites. More specifically, it will offer Web-based metrics like the number of unique viewers and the age/gender of viewers.

However, it cannot measure how long a viewer has watched and it can only track viewing of TV content on computers -- not smartphones or tablets (yet).

The networks participating in the pilot include ABC, Fox, NBC, Discovery, A&E and Univision. AOL is the only video site (among the likes of YouTube and Hulu) that will partake in the pilot.

These networks can take the information provided by Nielsen's program and use it to make decisions about the content they offer.

This is Nielsen's effort to step up into the digital world and stray from traditional TV ratings, since many TV viewers no longer solely watch TV on television sets. With the explosion of computer use for TV viewing, it was time to make a few changes to the way people behave. Nielsen hopes to include smartphones and tablets in the future, since these devices feature apps for watching TV shows as well.

Nielsen will roll out the pilot program over the next few months and introduce a commercial program later this year.

In September of this year, Nielsen said it will expand its definition of television beyond the traditional meaning by launching new TV tracking software that will include tablets.